# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1888_S11
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1888. 11

partakers of them. The refusal of church fellowship in this case does not betray a lack of love. On the contrary, when we seek to convince the heterodox of their error, that is the highest proof of love. Many a one is also won in this way. Love proves itself by refuting errors, not by indifference toward them; that is well to be noted. We must not say: "We cannot, to be sure, agree in this or that article of faith, but Christian brethren we want to be nonetheless." — It is also simply impossible to practice fellowship with the Christians in the sects, because we do not know the Christians among the false-believing; they are hidden from us. They do not present themselves to us as Christians but as false-believing. So long as someone pulls on the same rope with the false-believing, we cannot acknowledge him as a brother. — These are two quite different questions: 1. Who is a member of the invisible church, that is, a true Christian? That is, whoever believes from the heart in JESUS Christ. And: 2. Whom must I acknowledge as an orthodox Christian, so that I practice church fellowship with him? Here I must demand that he submit with me to the whole Word of God. Only on that basis can I acknowledge him as a brother in the faith.

We know, to be sure, that in the orthodox visible church there are also hypocrites. Nevertheless we must regard all members of it as Christians if they confess Christian doctrine and lead a godly life. Love requires that. But love does not require that we declare all those in the heterodox communions to be Christians. They do not confess the pure Christian doctrine. Love requires only the concession: There are Christians among you.

To justify false unionism, appeal is also made to the distinction between subjective and objective faith. It is said that the two do not coincide. What is taught in God's Word (objective faith), the individual Christian need not necessarily know and believe in its entirety for his own person (subjective faith); if only he is honestly and sincerely convinced in his conscience of what he accepts, then he is a Christian and a brother, and we stand in unity of faith. — But when the question is which of the two sides of faith is the important one in this matter, the subjective or the objective, our answer is: Both are important and cannot be separated from each other. It is a matter of doctrines revealed in God's Word (objective faith), and these are to be accepted not merely outwardly with the understanding but by an inner act (subjective faith).

We must also be clear whether the definition of the first thesis does not come into collision with the statements of our church. The "we" of the thesis surely embraces our whole Lutheran church. Let us now look at statements of our church, such as the Augsburg Confession